Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, or Chief Executive (Chinese 香港特別行政區行政長官 / 香港特别行政区行政长官, abbreviated 行政長官 / 行政长官, ugs.: 特首) is the head of government of the Chinese Special Administrative Region and presides over the government of Hong Kong. He ranks first in the protocol order of precedence among all offices in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The current office bearer is Carrie Lam, the first woman to hold the office. (As of 2017-present)
There is no universal suffrage for Hong Kong citizens in the election of the Chief Executive; instead, the Chief Executive is elected by an election committee. However, unlike in Macau, when the Basic Law of Hong Kong was drafted, the pro-democracy camp was able to write into Article 45 that, in the unspecified future, the election procedure via the election committee would be replaced by a direct election procedure. This Election Committee had 1200 members at the last Chief Executive election in 2017. These members can be not only natural persons, but all legal entities - for example, interest groups from business and society. These members are selected in 28 functional constituencies, and again both natural persons and various other legal entities are eligible to vote. The electoral committee, consisting of 1200 members, chooses from a pool of nominated candidates, although the nomination process is difficult. A candidate needs the signature of 150 members of the election committee. With 1051 signatures for a candidate, that candidate wins the election accordingly without an opposing candidate. If no candidate reaches an absolute majority of the 1200 members in the election, a runoff election is held. The government of the People's Republic of China under the Prime Minister officially appoints the Chief Executive.
Elections are held every five years. In the event of a resignation after three years, a new Chief Executive is elected, but then only for the next two years, so that elections take place every five years without exception.
Previous incumbents
All previous incumbents were non-partisan supporters of the pro-Beijing camp.
- Tung Chee-hwa (1997-2005)
- Donald Tsang (2005-2012)
- Leung Chun-ying (2012-2017)
- Carrie Lam (since 2017)
